Drawing Your Plan

When you first go to the “Step 2: Draw” tab, the view is
zoomed out as far as possible and any district outlines that have already been
drawn will be visible.The map
navigation tools on the left side of the screen are similar to Google
Maps.As you zoom in, the
boundaries of smaller units will be visible.In terms of size from largest to smallest, the boundaries
are: district, counties, tract, precinct, and block.Blocks only show up when zoomed in very far.

The three drop down menus toward the left allow you to
choose the information you would like shown on your map.The “Show County by” menu allows you to
select demographic data.The “Show
Districts by” menu allows you to see the population, compactness, or
contiguity.The “Show boundaries”
menu shows the outline of the smallest unit as you zoom in. (Instructions continue below screen shots.)

Step 2 with Edit Map view

Editing Your Map

When you click on “Edit Map”, a new tool bar appears.It looks like this:

Step 2 with Select Map view

In the Edit Map view you see this tool bar:

Map Tools - Move the map and give you information

Hand Tool – Allows you to move the map around on
the screen.

i Tool – Gives you demographic information about
the area you click on

d Tool – Tells you what district the area on the
map is assigned to already.For
example, if you are zoomed in and cannot see district borders, the d Tool will
tell you what district the piece of geography is in.

Assigning Tools – Allow you to assign pieces to districts

Under the “Assigning Tools” (center left) there is a drop
down menu.You can select New
District, Unassigned, or a district by number if you already have some
drawn.

To put a piece of the state in a district, use one of the
selecting tools to choose your area of land then select how where want it
assigned from the Assigning Tools drop down menu.

For example, use the selection arrow,
click directly on a county, then select “New District” from the drop down
menu.You will then be prompted to
assign your new district a number.After you choose the district number that you want, the county you
selected is assigned to that district.

You can also select a piece of geography with a selection
tool and then choose the district you want it to go in from the Assignment
Tools drop down menu.Use the
selection tool to click on a county.It will be outlined in yellow.Then choose the district you want that county to go into from the
drop down menu.

Information on Districts

Once you have some geography assigned to a district you can
find out information about your district on the right hand side.The “Current District” drop down menu
allows you to select different views on the right side of the screen.

“Demographics” shows you the total population and
demographic breakdown of the district.

“Basic Information” also shows the population and whether
your districts are contiguous.It
also shows if your districts are over or under the target population.A blue district is under
population.An orange district is
over.There are also two columns
that show compactness as a percent and a check
mark or X to let you know the district is contiguous.

If you are unsure what a symbol or color means, click on
“Stats Legend” in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

Anchor Tool

The anchor tool allows you to automatically place any piece
of geography into a district.Click on the anchor tool, then select the district you want from the
drop down menu.After that
district is anchored, any piece you click on will automatically be assigned to
that district.To turn the anchor
off, just click on it again.

Click and Drag

Once you have districts designated, you can use your
selection tools to pick a piece of geography and then drag it into that
district.